Use of a chopper mechanism to add fibers to a well

ABSTRACT

A chopper mechanism for providing a fiber to a fluid at an oilfield. The chopper mechanism may be employed to process the fiber from an uncut form to a cut form in order to provide a mixture of the fluid and the fiber with flowback inhibiting character. Techniques of employing the chopper mechanism may be utilized at the site of an oilfield for applications such as fracturing, cementing, and drilling. Additionally, the chopper mechanism itself may be made available as a large high capacity chopper assembly, or a smaller handheld chopper gun for slower rate fiber supply operations.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments described relate to methods for supplying a cut fiber tooilfield application fluids. In particular, embodiments employingchopper mechanisms on-site are described.

BACKGROUND OF THE RELATED ART

The production of hydrocarbons from an oilfield occurs primarily througha wellbore of an underground well. The well may include access tofractures extending radially from the wellbore and into surroundinggeologic formations. The presences of such fractures may be beneficialto hydrocarbon production. Indeed, it is not uncommon for a fracturingoperation to take place in advance of hydrocarbon production in order tointentionally form fractures extending from the wellbore and into aformation. That is, the well may display an architectural profile havinga variety of particularly located fracture sites built thereinto in aneffort to maximize hydrocarbon production from the well.

As part of the above-described fracturing operation, a fracturing fluidmay be pumped at high pressure into the well in order to form thefractures and stimulate production of the hydrocarbons. That is, thefractures may serve as channels through the formation through whichhydrocarbons may reach the wellbore. The indicated fracturing fluidgenerally includes a solid particulate referred to as propant, oftensand. The propant may act to enhance the formation of fractures duringthe fracturing operation and may also remain primarily within fracturesupon their formation. In fact, the fractures may remain open in part dueto their propping open by the proppant.

Unfortunately, in certain circumstances, the proppant or otherparticulate contaminants from the surrounding formation may fail toremain in place. For example, fracturing or other fluid may flow backinto the wellbore from the fractures bringing the proppant and otherparticulates along, a condition referred to herein as “flowback”. Whenthis occurs, hydrocarbon production is impeded as opposed to beingenhanced. This is a common occurrence in the case of unconsolidatedformations as well as those that have undergone gravel packing and othertreatments that add particulate to the well.

In order to help avoid the flowback of fracturing fluid and propant orother solid particulate into the wellbore, methods have been developedin which fibers are added to the fracturing fluid in order to provide itwith a flowback inhibiting character. These fibers may range from about10 to about 100 mesh and be of a natural or synthetic glass, ceramic ormetal. Regardless, the incorporation of such fibers into the fracturingfluid may substantially prevent the flowback of propant into thewellbore. In fact, the fibers may provide the fracturing fluid withcharacteristics that inhibit the flowback of fracturing fluid andpropant along with any other solid particulate. That is, the fracturingfluid may display a web-like character that acts to trap particulate ata fracture and other sites of the well, thus substantially preventingtheir flowback.

In addition to the use of fibers in fracturing fluid, flowbackinhibiting fibers may be added to cement slurries and other welltreatment fluids. That is, flowback inhibiting fibers may be employed ina variety of well treatment fluids determined based on their perceivedsusceptibility to undesirable particulate and flowback.

Unfortunately, in spite of the broad applicability and effectiveness offlowback inhibiting fibers, they must be added to the requisitetreatment fluid at the well site during application of the fluid. Forexample, flowback inhibiting fibers may not be added to fracturing fluidor combined with propant prior to the employment of the fracturing fluidat the well site. This is due to the fact that the flowback inhibitingfibers provide the noted web-like character to the treatment fluid soonafter their addition. Thus, while adept at preventing flowback, theaddition of fibers too far in advance of treatment fluid injection willlead to web-like character that will affect the fluidity and workabilityof the treatment fluid itself and may even clog the borehole.

In order to avoid clogging of the borehole and other similar problems,flowback inhibiting fibers are added to the treatment fluid at the wellsite during, or immediately prior to, the delivery of the treatmentfluid to the well. In this manner, the web-like character of thetreatment fluid is fully achieved upon its arrival downhole (e.g. withina fracture) rather than at a random location within the borehole.

Unfortunately, the addition of flowback inhibiting fibers at the wellsite during operation requires a significant amount of manual labor andis achieved in a manner that is far from precise in terms of meteringthe addition of the fibers. For example, a conventional fracturingoperation may require the addition of between about 150 lbs and about300 lbs of fiber per minute. Since the fiber may not be pre-mixed withpropant or fracturing fluid, it is hand poured from up to 60 lb bagsinto a mix tub. Given the size and dimensions of conventional mixingequipment, this generally leaves two operators pouring bags of fibers asrapidly as possible during this portion of a fracturing operation.

When all is said and done, each operator may have emptied up to about aton of fiber into the mixing tub for this portion of a conventionalfracturing operation. Furthermore, the volume of fiber added isgenerally achieved with no more than about a +/−15% degree of accuracy,given the manual nature of the fiber addition. Thus, fiber is oftenwasted or provided in insufficient quantities to achieve the properweb-like character.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention include a method of injecting afluid mixture into a well at an oilfield. The method may includeproviding a fluid to the oilfield and adding a fiber thereto in order toform the mixture. The adding of the fiber may be achieved with a choppermechanism whereby the fiber is fed to the chopper mechanism in an uncutform and delivered to the fluid by the chopper mechanism in a cut form.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partially cross-sectional overview of an oilfield employingfracturing equipment and a chopper mechanism in the form of a chopperassembly.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the oilfield taken from section 2-2 ofFIG. 1 and revealing a fracturing fluid mixture flowing into a fracture.

FIG. 3 is the view of FIG. 2 revealing the fracturing fluid mixturetaking on a web-like character within the fracture.

FIG. 4 is a top perspective view of a mix tub at the oilfield of FIG. 1and a chopper mechanism in the form of a chopper gun.

FIG. 5 is a partially cross sectional overview of an oilfield employingcementing equipment and a chopper mechanism in the form of a choppergun.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart summarizing an embodiment of employing a choppermechanism at an oilfield.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments are described with reference to certain chopper mechanismsdirected at well fracturing and/or cementing applications. However,other types of oilfield applications and fluids may realize benefitsafforded by embodiments described herein. For example, drillingapplications may employ techniques described herein. Regardless,embodiments described herein employ a chopper mechanism to deliver a cutfiber, from a readily transportable uncut supply thereof, to an oilfieldapplication fluid on-site.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an oilfield 101 is depicted where a fracturingoperation is carried out. The fracturing operation may be employed tofacilitate the production of hydrocarbons from a well 179 through anunderground formation 199. In the embodiment shown, a fracturing fluidmixture 113 is delivered to the well 179 under high pressure in order topromote the formation of fractures 195.

The above noted fractures 195 may traverse a production region 190 ofthe formation 199 in order to target the location of hydrocarbons. Asshown, the fracturing fluid mixture 113 is able to penetrate theproduction region 190 through perforations 178 in the well casing 177.That is, the well 179 may be configured with a casing 177 havingperforations 178 at predetermined locations that are aligned with theposition of the production region 190. Thus, the highly pressurizedfracturing fluid mixture 113 may be forced down the well 179 from adischarge pipe 176 at a high enough pressure to permeate outside of thewell 179, through the perforations 178 and into the formation 199 toform the fractures 195. Targeted hydrocarbons, generally oil and naturalgas, may thereby be drained from the production region 190 through thefractures 195.

Constituents of the above-described fracturing fluid mixture 113 areprovided to the well 179 after combining at a mix tub 150. Once themixture 113 is attained it may be directed through the well 179 by aseries of high pressure pumps. For example a series of conventionallarge scale triplex pumps (not shown) may be employed together, linkedthrough a common manifold and coupled to the well head 175. The combinedoutput of these pumps may be mechanically collected and distributedaccording to the parameters of the fracturing operation. The fracturingfluid mixture 113 may thus be driven into the well formation 199 forfracturing rock and forming fractures 195 as described above. In oneembodiment, a series of between about 4 and about 20 conventionaltriplex pumps are provided at the oilfield 101 for such a fracturingoperation.

As alluded to above, the fracturing fluid mixture 113 is provided to thehigh pressure pumps for fracturing from a mix tub 150. That is, a mixtub 150 may be provided whereat constituents 111, 112 are combined toform the fracturing fluid mixture 113 just prior to its high pressuredownhole injection as described above. An exit pipe 155 may be employedto carry the mixture 113 from the mix tub 150 to the above noted pumpsor other post-mix processing locations at the oilfield 101. Regardless,constituents 111, 112 are combined at the oilfield 101 to form thefracturing fluid mixture 113 at the time of the fracturing operation. Asdescribed below, this allows the fracturing fluid mixture 113 to beadvanced throughout the fracturing equipment at the oilfield 101 andthrough the well 179 prior to taking on any sticky gel-like propertiesor a web-like character that might otherwise impede such advancement.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 1, the mix tub 150 is shown receivingconstituents 111, 112 from multiple sources. One such source may includea chopper mechanism, such as the depicted chopper assembly 100 fordelivering fiber 111 to the mix tub 150. Additionally, fluid 112, suchas a conventional fracturing fluid 112, may be provided to the mix tub150 through a feeder 160. The fracturing fluid 112 itself may be anabrasive slurry made up of water or other liquid with a proppant such assand, ceramic material, bauxite, and/or a variety of other abrasiveadditives blended therein. These components of the fracturing fluid 112may be blended together prior to delivery at the mix tub 150 as shown inFIG. 1. However, in other embodiments components may be individuallyprovided to the mix tub 150 for mixing thereat.

Regardless of whether the components of the fracturing fluid 112 arepre-mixed or individually fed to the mix tub 150, the fiber 111 isindeed individually provided to the mix tub 150, preferably uponaddition of the fracturing fluid 112 or its components thereto. That is,as alluded to above and detailed further below, the fiber 111 mayprovide a web-like character to the fracturing fluid mixture 113 onceassimilated therethrough. A process of congealing may ensue that, withina matter of under a few hours, provides a web-like character to thefracturing fluid mixture 113 that substantially prohibits its free flowof movement through the described oilfield delivery equipment. As alsodescribed below, this may be of benefit in avoiding flowback of thefracturing fluid mixture 113 into the well 179 from the productionregion 190. However, this characteristic of the fiber 111 provides goodreason to have the fiber 111 separately added to the fracturing fluid112 as opposed to providing a pre-mixed, most likely unworkable,fracturing fluid mixture 113 with fiber 111 already blended therein.Fibers 111 capable of forming the above described web like characterwhen added to a fracturing fluid 112 are well known in the art.

Given that the fiber 111 is to be separately or individually added tothe mix tub 150 as indicated, a chopper assembly 100 may be provided todraw in uncut fiber 110 from a pallet 115 and distribute the cut fiber111 through a hose 120 and to the mix tub 150. Although specificembodiments of the chopper assembly 100 are described below, the chopperassembly 100 may be any device appropriate for metering and cutting theuncut fiber 110 to form a cut fiber 111 having a predetermined sizerange.

For example, in one embodiment the chopper assembly 100 is a rovingcartridge cutter modified as detailed herein, to draw in multiple linesof uncut fiber 110 simultaneously. Furthermore, for convenience, thechopper assembly 100 and the fiber supply pallet 115 may be providedatop a platform or skid. In this way, a modular mode of fiber supply anddelivery may be provided to the operation at the oilfield 101.

The supply of uncut fiber 110 at the pallet 115 may be made up ofcheeses or rolls of the uncut fiber 110. The cheeses may beinterconnected and continuous with one another such that as one cheeseis unrolled and emptied into the chopper assembly 100, the next may besubsequently and automatically fed thereto without interruption. In theembodiment shown, a single conventional pallet configuration is employedwherein 36 cheeses are available per pallet. However, otherconfigurations of supplying uncut fiber 110 may be employed. Forexample, a non-pallet supply of uncut fiber 110 may be provided ormultiple pallets 115 may be drawn from simultaneously by the chopperassembly 100. In fact, in one embodiment between about 4 and about 10lines of uncut fiber 110, preferably about 6, are simultaneously fedinto the chopper assembly 100. This may help ensure an adequate rate ofcut fiber 111 to the mix tub 150 for a given application.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, a fracturing application is depicted. Insuch an application the chopper assembly 100 may deliver between about100 lbs and about 300 lbs. per minute of cut fiber 111 to the mix tub150. The chopper assembly 100 itself may be configured along the linesof a large or multiple feed stationary chopper gun 400 (see FIG. 4) withcapability of providing such a rate of cut fiber 111 to the mix tub 150.This automated manner of such a delivery of cut fiber 111 savessignificant manpower otherwise required to manually dump bags of cutfiber 111 to the mix tub 150. Furthermore, due to the automated natureof the delivery, the chopper assembly 100 may achieve a rate of deliverythat is accurate to within at least about 5% of a given deliveryprotocol.

For a fracturing application such as that described above, the cut fiber111 may be delivered to the mix tub 150 by the chopper assembly 100 infragments of between about 10 mesh and about 100 mesh. Additionally, thefiber 111 may be made up of a natural or synthetic glass, ceramic ormetal. In fact, fiber 111 of the same type and characteristics may beemployed as part of a cement slurry mixture 513 as detailed furtherbelow.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, with added reference to FIG. 1,constituents 111, 112 may be blended by the mix tank 150 as indicatedand advanced through the exit pipe 155 for further processing orpressurization. Thus, a blended fracturing fluid mixture 113 may beinjected at high pressure into the well 179. With particular referenceto FIG. 2, fluid streams of the fracturing fluid mixture 113 aredepicted that are able penetrate the well formation 199 throughperforations 178 in the well casing 177. The fracturing fluid mixture113 thus effects and/or promotes the formation of a fracture 195 intothe production region 190, thereby allowing targeted hydrocarbonsthereat to empty into the well 179.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 3, however, the escape of hydrocarbonsfrom the production region 190 and into the well 179 may not be all thatis prone to escape the fracture 195. That is, loose geologic particulateas well as the fracturing fluid mixture 113 and its abrasive componentsmight be susceptible to returning to the well 179. Given that asignificant amount of such “flowback” may be damaging to oilfieldequipment and production, the fracturing fluid mixture 113 has beenfortified with cut fibers 111 that promote the formation of a web-likestructure in the mixture 113 within a matter of under a few hours.

In FIG. 3, the web-like character of the mixture 113 is evident in thematrix of material disposed in the fracture 195. The matrix of thecongealed mixture 113 exhibits behavior and properties that help to trapany loose particles of the formation, or of the mixture 113 itself, inplace. As a result, such particles are unable to re-enter the well 179through the perforations 178. Thus, the deleterious effects of flowbackas described above may be avoided.

Continuing now with reference to FIG. 4, the mix tub 150 of FIG. 1 isdepicted. The mix tub 150 includes a drain 450 that is coupled to ablending mechanism for mixing of components and constituents of amixture such as the above described fracturing fluid mixture 113 (seeFIGS. 1-3). However, in the embodiment shown, the chopper assembly ofFIG. 1 is replaced with a chopper gun 400 from which the cut fibers 111are supplied to the mix tub 150. As described below, a chopper gun 400is a handheld tool that may be well suited for lower rate fiber supplyapplications such as cementing.

Continuing now with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, a cementing applicationemploying a chopper gun 400 is described. The cementing application maybe carried out at the oilfield 101 depicted in FIG. 1 and as part of acompletion operation targeting the production of hydrocarbons from awell 579. However, in the embodiment of FIG. 5, focus is drawn to thedelivery of a cement slurry mixture 513 to the well 579 as detailedbelow.

As alluded to above, a cement slurry mixture 513 is delivered to thewell 579 in order to secure a borehole casing 586 in place within theformation 199. Cementing in this manner may follow drilling of the well179 itself whereby a drill bit is rotably driven into the formation todrill the well 179 with the aid of circulating mud. Subsequent cementingmay take place wherein a delivery pipe 576 is driven past upholesections of in place borehole casing 585, through a cement plug 560 andto un-cemented downhole borehole casing 586. A cement slurry mixture 513is then delivered downhole and forced between the casing 586 and theformation 199 for securing the casing 586 in place. Large scale cementpumps may be employed to deliver the cement slurry mixture 513 as shown.

A cementing application such as that described above may take place inadvance of, or in addition to, a fracturing application as also detailedherein. That is, depending on the design of the overall completionoperation, fracturing and cementing techniques may both be employed forthe purpose of furthering removal of hydrocarbons, again, generally oiland natural gas, from the formation 199.

Continuing with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, constituents 111, 512 of thecement slurry mixture 513 are initially combined at a mix tub 150,similar to the fracturing operation. Again, due to the nature of thecombined mixture 513, the constituents 111, 512 are combined at theoilfield 101 at the time of cementing. Thus, the mixture 513 may beadvanced throughout the cementing equipment and through the well 579prior to taking on properties that substantially impede its advancementtherethrough.

Continuing with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the mix tub 150 is shownreceiving fibers 111 from a chopper gun 400 whereas other constituents512 are delivered through a feeder 160. These other constituents mayinclude a conventional fluid cement slurry 512. The slurry 512 may bepremixed or components thereof individually provided to the mix tub 150for mixing thereat. Regardless, the fiber 111 is individually providedto the mix tub 150, preferably upon addition of the cement slurry 512 orits components thereto.

As detailed herein, the fiber 111 provides a web-like character to thecement slurry mixture 513. The web-like character may take hold inrelatively short order. For example, the flow of mud and othercontaminants may be substantially eliminated within a matter of hours,even prior to the complete setting and hardening of the mixture 513between the casing 586 and the formation 199. This helps preventundesirable flowback as noted above, safeguarding cementing equipment.However, as in the case of fracturing, the nature of the mixture 513also calls for the addition of fiber 111 only on site at the time of theoperation rather than by way of pre-blending into the slurry 512off-site.

Given that the fiber 111 is to be separately added to the mix tub 150, ahand held chopper gun 400 may be employed to draw in uncut fiber 110 anddistribute cut fiber 111 to the mix tub 150. Unlike a fracturingoperation, fiber 111 may be added to the mix tub 150 at a slower ratefor cementing, say at between about 5 lbs. and about 20 lbs. per minute.While a chopper assembly 100 as shown in FIG. 1 may be employed toachieve this rate, this slower rate of fiber 111 addition allows for theemployment of a user-friendly hands-on option of an air or electricpowered chopper gun 400 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In the embodimentsshown, the chopper gun 400 is a roving chopper with a power cord 425that employs a conventional roller 475 to draw uncut fiber 110theretoward for cutting and distributing as cut fiber 111 to the mix tub150.

The above described cementing application may employ a supply of uncutfiber 110 from a conventional pallet 115 of cheeses. However, given thelower amount of fiber 111 required for a conventional cementingapplication, it is unlikely that the majority of such a pallet 115 wouldbe consumed in the application.

The above described use of a chopper gun 400 to deliver cut fiber 111 tothe mix tub 150 again saves significant manpower otherwise required tomanually dump heavy bags of cut fiber 111 to the mix tub 150.Furthermore, even considering the hand-held nature of the chopper gun400, its automated nature of cutting and delivery provides for adelivery rate that is accurate to within about 5% of a given deliveryprotocol for a cementing application while still allowing for directmanual control over the delivery of the fiber 111.

Referring now to FIG. 6, an embodiment of employing a chopper mechanismto convert uncut fibers to cut fibers at an oilfield is summarized inthe form of a flow chart. With the mix tub 150 and other applicationequipment in place as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, an application fluid suchas a fracturing fluid 112 or a cement slurry 512 may be deliveredthereto as indicated at 610. A chopper mechanism such as a chopperassembly 100 or gun 400 may be employed to convert uncut fibers 110 tocut fibers 111 as indicated at 630. In embodiments described herein thechopper mechanism may simultaneously deliver the cut fibers 111 to themix tub 150 where they may be blended with the application fluid (see650, 670). As indicated at 690, the resulting mixture may be employeddownhole within a well to promote the production of hydrocarbonstherefrom while avoiding significant flowback as a result of propertiesprovided by the cut fibers 111.

The above described embodiments allow for the addition of flowbackinhibiting fibers to oilfield fluid mixtures without requiring asignificant amount of manual labor. This is achieved by the employmentof a chopper mechanism, which, as detailed above, may be employed todrastically reduce the human cost incurred that results from thenecessity of on-site fluid mixture blending. Additionally, the use of achopper mechanism provides a degree of precision in the metering or rateof cut fiber addition to the application fluid mixture heretoforeunavailable.

The preceding description has been presented with reference to presentlypreferred embodiments. Persons skilled in the art and technology towhich these embodiments pertain will appreciate that alterations andchanges in the described structures and methods of operation may bepracticed without meaningfully departing from the principle, and scopeof these embodiments. For example, embodiments described herein includethe addition of cut fibers via a chopper mechanism to fracturing fluidor cement slurry in order to form a flowback inhibiting mixture.However, cut fibers may be provided via a chopper mechanism to mud orother oilfield application fluids to similarly avoid problems offlowback during well completion or hydrocarbon production operations.Furthermore, the foregoing description should not be read as pertainingonly to the precise structures described and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, but rather should be read as consistent with and as supportfor the following claims, which are to have their fullest and fairestscope.

1. A method of treating a well at an oilfield with a fluid mixture, themethod comprising: providing a fluid to the oilfield; and adding a fiberto the fluid to form the mixture, said adding comprising: providing anuncut form of the fiber in a form of an interconnected and continuousplurality of cheeses; continuously feeding the uncut form of the fiberto a chopper mechanism for the duration of the treating; operating thechopper mechanism to convert the uncut form of the fiber to a cut formof the fiber to form a plurality of cut fibers; delivering and meteringthe plurality of cut fibers from the chopper mechanism to the fluid toprovide the mixture with a flowback inhibiting character; and injectingthe fluid mixture into the well.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein saidoperating of the chopper mechanism to convert the uncut form of thefiber to the cut form of the fiber to form a plurality of cut fiberscomprises forming a plurality of cut fibers having a predetermined sizerange.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the predetermined size range isbetween about 10 mesh and about 100 mesh.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the treating of the well is a well fracturing operation, andwherein said delivering of the plurality of cut fibers from the choppermechanism to the fluid occurs at a rate of between about 100 and about300 lbs, per minute.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the treating ofthe well is a well cementing operation, and wherein said delivering ofthe plurality of cut fibers from the chopper mechanism to the fluidoccurs at a rate of between about 5 and about 20 lbs, per minute.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: providing a pallet to accommodatea plurality of cheeses; and interconnecting the plurality of cheeses toform a continuous pallet of the interconnected plurality of cheeses. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein said providing of the fluid comprisesproviding a fluid that is one of an abrasive slurry for a wellfracturing operation, a cement slurry for a well cementing operation,and a mud for well drilling operation.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereinsaid providing of the fluid comprises providing a fluid that is anabrasive slurry comprising a liquid and a proppant.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said providing the fluid comprises providing a fluidthat is an abrasive slurry comprising a liquid and a proppant, andwherein the proppant is one of sand, bauxite, and a ceramic.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the fiber promotes a web-like structure whenadded to the fluid, and wherein the web-like structure provides theflowback inhibiting character of said fluid mixture.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the fiber comprises a material that is one of glass,ceramic, and metal.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the choppermechanism is a chopper assembly comprising a roving cartridge cutterthat is operable to convert the uncut form of the fiber to the cut formof the fiber at a rate of between about 100 and about 300 lbs, perminute.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the uncut form of the fiberis in the form of a plurality of lines comprising between about 4 andabout 10 lines, and wherein the roving cartridge cutter is operable toprocess the plurality of lines of the uncut form of the fibersimultaneously.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the chopper mechanismis a chopper gun comprising a handheld roving chopper with a roller toaccommodate the uncut fiber, and wherein said roving chopper is operableto process the uncut fiber into the cut fiber at a rate of between about5 and about 20 lbs, per minute.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein theadding of the fiber to the fluid to form the mixture occurs at theoilfield.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein operating comprisesoperating the chopper mechanism without interruption.
 17. A method oftreating a well at an oilfield with a fluid mixture, the methodcomprising: providing a fluid to the oilfield; and providing an uncutform of fiber in a form of an interconnected and continuous plurality ofcheeses, wherein the fiber promotes a web-like structure when added tothe fluid; continuously adding the fiber to the fluid to form themixture for the duration of the treating, said adding comprising:feeding the uncut form of the fiber to a chopper mechanism; operatingthe chopper mechanism to convert the uncut form of the fiber to a cutform of the fiber to form a plurality of cut fibers, wherein each of theplurality of cut fibers is cut to a predetermined size range; anddelivering the plurality of cut fibers from the chopper mechanism to thefluid without interruption to provide the mixture with a flowbackinhibiting character; and injecting the fluid mixture into the well. 18.The method of claim 17, wherein the treating of the well is a wellfracturing operation, and wherein said delivering of the plurality ofcut fibers from the chopper mechanism to the fluid occurs at a rate ofbetween about 100 and about 300 lbs, per minute.
 19. The method of claim17, wherein the treating of the well is a well cementing operation, andwherein said delivering of the plurality of cut fibers from the choppermechanism to the fluid occurs at a rate of between about 5 and about 20lbs, per minute.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein said providing ofthe fluid comprises providing a fluid that is one of an abrasive slurryfor a well fracturing operation, a cement slurry for a well cementingoperation, and a mud for well drilling operation.
 21. The method ofclaim 17, wherein said providing the fluid comprises providing a fluidthat is an abrasive slurry comprising a liquid and a proppant, andwherein the proppant is one of sand, bauxite, and a ceramic.
 22. Amethod of treating a well at an oilfield with a fluid mixture, themethod comprising: providing a fluid to the oilfield; and providing afiber that promotes a web-like structure when added to the fluid,wherein the fiber is provided in an uncut form of fiber in a form of aninterconnected plurality of cheeses; adding the fiber to the fluid atthe oilfield to form the mixture, said adding comprising: providingplurality of cheeses of the fiber in an uncut form; providing a palletto accommodate the plurality of cheeses; interconnecting the pluralityof cheeses to form a continuous pallet of interconnected fiber cheeses;continuously feeding the continuous pallet of interconnected fibercheeses to a chopper mechanism during the duration of the treating;operating the chopper mechanism to cut the continuous pallet ofinterconnected fiber fed therein into a plurality of cut fibers, whereineach of the plurality of cut fibers is cut to a predetermined sizerange; and, delivering the plurality of cut fibers from the choppermechanism to the fluid to provide the mixture with a flowback inhibitingcharacter; and injecting the fluid mixture into the well.
 23. The methodof claim 22, wherein the treating of the well is a well fracturingoperation, and wherein said delivering of the plurality of cut fibersfrom the chopper mechanism to the fluid occurs at a rate of betweenabout 100 and about 300 lbs, per minute.
 24. The method of claim 22,wherein the treating of the well is a well cementing operation, andwherein said delivering of the plurality of cut fibers from the choppermechanism to the fluid occurs at a rate of between about 5 and about 20lbs, per minute.
 25. The method of claim 22, wherein said providing ofthe fluid comprises providing a fluid that is one of an abrasive slurryfor a well fracturing operation, a cement slurry for a well cementingoperation, and a mud for well drilling operation.
 26. The method ofclaim 22, wherein said providing the fluid comprises providing a fluidthat is an abrasive slurry comprising a liquid and a proppant, andwherein the proppant is one of sand, bauxite, and a ceramic.
 27. Themethod of claim 22, wherein feeding comprises feeding the continuouspallet of fibers to the chopper mechanism without interruption.